


Wherever

by msermesth



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: De-Serumed Steve Rogers, First Dates, Insecure Steve Rogers, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 00:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13306473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msermesth/pseuds/msermesth
Summary: Remember that time Steve got de-serumed and was super bothered about it, but Tony was just excited Steve was letting him run the tests?(Here’s a reminder)What if they had a date that night?





	Wherever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MassiveSpaceWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/gifts).



“Steve!” Tony called as he half-walked, half-ran after him. Despite being much less muscular than usual, Steve was somehow still faster. It must have been those long legs. “STEVE! Please slow down.”

With a surprisingly dignified huff, Steve turned around and planted both feet on the floor, looking more like he was about to rush Tony then talk to him. It made Tony flinch to see Steve on the defense and brought to mind the newspaper clippings he had found from the last time they had opposed each other.

Tony refused to go back there.

Too much had happened since the SHRA. They had rebuilt the Avengers and repaired their friendship, and just maybe, if Tony wasn’t reading too much into Steve’s invitation to dinner tonight, had the potential to have so much more.

“What do you want, Tony?” Steve asked but it didn’t sound like he was very invested in knowing exactly what that was.

Which was late night conversations, non-life-threatening Avenging, and for Steve to continue to smile at him in that way that made his stomach flip.

But Tony didn’t say that. What Tony _did_ _say_ was, “I wanted to know if we were still on for dinner tonight?”

Steve crossed his arms. “You really still want to go on a date with me?”

A date? _A date?_ That was the first time Tony had heard it referred to as a _date_. He lost a few seconds just replaying that over and over in his head. He even said it out loud. “ _A date?_ ”

Steve’s jaw set and it was no less intimidating now that he had lost one hundred and fifty pounds of muscle. “Yes, Tony. I wanted to go on _a date_. Is that so unbelievable to you?”

“Yes,” Tony answered immediately.

“Why?” Steve looked like he knew the answer. Tony could see it in the way he swallowed like he was preparing to hear something he knew would hurt.

“Because you are this wonderful, remarkable, secretly hilarious person who for some reason asked _me_ , Tony Stark, on a date,” Tony confessed. He was _this close_ to having what he wanted for years, and for some reason Steve seemed to be putting up obstacle after obstacle to a date _he_ had asked for.

“But…” Steve fell silent for a moment and looked like he was thinking through whatever he was about to say very carefully. “What if we can’t fix it by tonight?” Steve weakly waved his hands in front of him.

Tony had no idea what he was talking about. “What if we can’t fix _what_ by tonight?”

“The serum, Tony. What if I don’t look like… me?” Steve stared down at the ground, and Tony swore he had never seen Steve look so vulnerable before.

“Steve, I’m confused. You look like you, _now_.”

“But the serum, Tony…” Steve tried to explain.

It wasn’t making any sense. “Is it that you have trouble eating without the serum?” Tony asked, and he remembered Steve telling him that before Rebirth, he always felt a little nauseated.

“No,” Steve responded with a little more umph that Tony had expected to hear. “I mean, sometimes, I got nauseous--”

“Because if that’s the problem, we could just watch a movie,” Tony interrupted him to say. The situation was getting away from him, and he was beginning to feel desperate.

“That’s not it. It’s that I’m not…” Steve flexed his muscles, and finally Tony got it what Steve was so concerned about.

Tony stepped a few feet closer. “Steve, it doesn’t matter to me if you do or don’t have more muscles than Hercules.” All he wanted was for Steve to smile at him like he did last week when he had asked Tony if he’d like to grab more than just a burger.

Steve squared his shoulders, and Tony prepared himself for what stubborn argument he was about to hear. “Yes, it does. I overheard you saying to--”

He didn’t let Steve finish that statement. “No… I mean yes, I probably said something to somebody about the size of your shoulders before. But that isn’t why I want to go on a date with you. That isn’t why I have spent _years_ wanting that.” Tony took a few more slow steps and closed whatever distance was between them. A week ago he might not have taken the risk of what he was about to do. Today, it felt like a bigger risk not to.

Steve looked apprehensive as Tony threaded his left hand through Steve’s hair, but he didn’t look away or try to convince Tony otherwise. There might have even been the slightest suggestion of a smile on his lips. “I want Steve Rogers. Not the supersolider. Not Captain America. I want _you_ , and I don’t care if you’re a skinny guy with a chip on your shoulder or a doppelganger for a Michelangelo sculpture. Wherever you show up tonight, however you look, that’s where I want to be.”

There was a look in Steve’s eyes that Tony swore Steve always got before he did something new. It was more excitement and curiosity than fear, and Tony had never been so happy to see it. Tony kept his eyes on Steve’s and watched that look, even when he bent in and kissed him.

Or he watched it for a few seconds until Steve grabbed his arm and pulled him so close they were chest to chest and Tony could feel Steve’s heartbeat through his shirt.

And when he finally pulled away, Steve had on that smile that always made his stomach flip.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr Post](https://msermesth.tumblr.com/post/169505686264/fandom-stocking-fills)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Anytime (the Full of Surprises Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13776642) by [magicasen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicasen/pseuds/magicasen)




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